This is so dark, yet so sexy.
I’ve been listening a BBC 4 Radio play adaptation of Tess of the d’Urbervilles and it reminds me of a scene out of it.
I’ve been reading interviews with Jim of late in which he says there’s beauty in fear. In addition to that I’d say there is sexiness in darkness.
Oh to have seen SM and Magazine on the same bill!
Normal service for MMM will resume next week, but until then I’d like to share a special gift from my mate Baggers. Kant Kino is one of my favourite, if not my MOST FAVOURITE, Simple Minds instrumental. Only problem is, it’s so short!
“No probs. I’ll sort it!”, said Baggers to me and lo! He sent this (audio link below) to me not long after. A few days before my birthday in 2017 as a gift. He called it the “Tantrum Remix”. Lol
So, in lieu of being prepared for another Sons And Fascination/Sister Feelings Call themed post for this week, I am sharing this lovely extended version of Kant Kino.
I missed the chance to check the building out in 2019. I had it all planned out; going to Germany with Ruth, seeing The Stranglers and making my way to selected spots around Berlin. A pilgrimage that never got to take place.
Alas. Maybe one day…
Final couple of acquisitions for now. I had been waiting to have the funds to get this final two as I couldn’t just grab them all at once. I thought at one point I lost out on getting the band photo but it was just the listing had ended and it took a while for the seller to relist it.
I’ve gotten all the ones I want for now. Unless something new crops up, I’m happy with all my recent finds.
Just one last thing with the band one – if you look at the inside of Charlie’s jaiket, down by his left hip, you’ll see he has one of these passes (pictured below) clipped to it. I’d love one of those. I love how it is pretty much a silhouette of Jim’s head. It’s all in the hair and ears. Lol
There are no details with either of the photos but I am guessing with them being German photographers that these were both taken in Germany? The band photo from 1981 during the Sons And Fascination tour – that backstage tour pass was certainly for that tour (and used into 1982 as well) – and well, Kenny’s with them, so it would see to confirm a 1981 date for that photo. But looking at the gig dates on the Dream Giver site, Kenny never goes to Germany with them. Hmmm – confusing! The only European dates he seems to do is a couple of Spanish dates at the tail end of the tour to Canada/USA/Oz/NZ in 1981.
Answers on a postcard for that. A band photo like that one is pretty rare anyway. I’m glad I got hold of it in the end.
As for the one of Jim on his own, I speculated it being taken at a gig in Berlin in March, 1983. Again, just a theory as there are no details with the photo other than the photographer’s name on the back.
Yesterday four arrived and then today, another four! The first one is another from the photoshoot at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm, and the next is one from the day before the gig, taken on June 8th, 1989. So I kind of now have a complete set of photos of the Street Fighting Years gig for Stockholm.
The next is by a photographer called Ronald Siemoneit. There’s no date on the back, but I would guess by Jim’s hair and what he’s wearing, esp. the belt he has on, that it was taken in 1983. The photographer was based in Berlin, so I would also assume it to have been taken at a German gig, most likely in Berlin. They played Berlin on March 24th, 1983 and Jim is wearing that same white t-shirt with the rolled-up sleeves and that big belt.
Lastly, another Michael Hohmann one from the same gig as the previous two of his that I got. Again, no date or venue but I would say they are from 1980. And most likely either of the support slots they had for Peter Gabriel in Berlin – one on September 4th at the Deutschelandhalle, the other on September 19th at Stadion. Looks more likely to be the former as it’s a smaller venue and indoors.
There’s a possibility it could be Kant Kino but Jim looks more like how he appeared in the latter part of 1980 in the photos. The photos (in the Michael Hohmann set) are definitely no later than 1980 anyway.
Beyond the immediate enjoyment of ogling Jim, I love the history that’s attached to them. I absolutely treasure these things. I love this aspect of collecting memorabilia.
I also did get a copy of Next Big Thing, which I will discuss in a separate and relevant post.
Some new arrivals for this Kerrsday.
The first three are all promo photos taken of Jim inside the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm.
The black and white photo has a newspaper headline attached to it on the back that translates in English as saying, “Jim Kerr in Simple Minds visited Stockholm Stadium on Saturday, where the band will play on June 9.”
The three photos have dates stamped on them. The two colour ones are dated April 1st, 1989, (a date of March 31st has been crossed out on one of them). The B&W one is dated March 31st, 1989. Checking what day of the week it was then, it tells me Saturday was April 1st.
It would seem from this that Jim made the trip esp. to get the promo shots done at the stadium. I was sceptical, but it is definitely the stadium in Stockholm that he’s been photographed inside.
Finally, the smaller photo (actual size is 7×5 inches) of an even younger Jim was taken backstage at Kant Kino on March 3rd, 1980.
Timely photos, all of them. (He looks a right poser in the one the Swedish newspaper chose to print to promote the concert. Lol)
Very happy with these babies that arrived today!
Great news from Sarah Brown’s social media pages yesterday. Some more good news would be most welcome.
There is such conflicting stuff I’m seeing at the moment when it comes to live music. Who knows where we’ll be by the summer?
I’m not feeling very hopeful. The 1975 have cancelled all their 2021 dates, meanwhile Field Music have just announced a new tour for October – even in January, that seems ambitious.
We booked for Scritti Politti Cupid And Psyche ‘85 tour in September but…yeah, it’s already starting to look doubtful.
Simple Minds still have dates in March for France and Germany – yet to be rescheduled again. I guess they’re just abandoning them outright? Confirmation of a cancellation would be good right now.
My flights with EasyJet to France and Italy have been cancelled – with no dates for rescheduling so….
It doesn’t bear thinking about. Anyway.
Some good news, at least.
A chat and a bit of a look-see at my new fangirl treasure…
Isn’t it FABULOUS?! 🥰🥰🥰
Back in May I had a chat with Ronnie Gurr at Hanging Around Books about a photo of Jim that I would have liked to have gotten a copy of from the photographer who took it, but I looked into their prices (without enquiring with them directly) and saw they wanted over £1000 for a print!! 😱😱
The conversation moved on to the topic of a Record Mirror cover, and the use of a photo of Brian McGee in his undies that Ronnie had taken when with the band on tour in Germany in the late summer of 1980.
He said to me “this (see below) is the photo I submitted for the cover, but they went with the one of Brian instead.”
I sat looking at the screen in a mixture of awe and disbelief. Awe that such a fabulous photo of Jim had been stowed away unseen for so many years, and disbelief that the editor at Record Mirror snubbed the use of this photo for one of Brian in his togs!
Not only that, but the music mag then goes on to erroneously name Brian as “Mike McNeil”. Geezo! They don’t even get the erroneous name correct!
Anyway, 40 years down the line, I was in fangirl raptures to see such a wonderful photo of Jim. Since seeing it, I have been hankering for a copy and over these months I have every now and then been virtually nudging Ronnie for a copy of the photo.
AT LAST! The day arrived yesterday. I received three photos in total. The photo above of Jim which measures 10×8 inches, the black and white group photo below of the band on the flight staircase, which measures 7×5 inches, and the one below that of the band by the Berlin Wall, which measures 6×4 inches.
All three are wonderful, new and fairly rare treasures. All three photos were taken by Ronnie. But of the three, of course that one of Jim (for me) is the most highly prized. It is now in a frame by my bedside. The b&w band photo is framed and sitting atop the other bedside drawer.
If you would like to get prints yourself, you can contact Ronnie via email at: hangingaroundbooks@gmail.com
All of the photos featured in the Hanging Around Books photozines are available to order as prints. You can view the catalogue of books available by visiting hangingaroundbooks.com (just click the link!)
A new bootleg has been uploaded to YouTube from the ever elusive but ever fabulous Art & Talk. This one hails from the Real To Real Cacophony Tour of 1979/80 and is performed in Hamburg on March 5th, 1980.
And although still seen as the Real To Real Cacophony Tour, there are tracks from Empires And Dance being performed, namely, Capital City and Room.
There’s only part of Capital City that’s been recorded. A shame, really, as I love it. I really do. But…not too much of it is missing, so it’s okay.
The recording is a true bootleg. Done by a member of the crowd, rather than it coming from the mixing desk. So you get a sense and feeling from the crowd – the vibe that they’re feeling. And the general feeling is that they are well up for it. Esp. one very excited, squealy young(?!) woman. Who can blame her? I reckon that would be me too – seeing them back then. I usually feel like that just listening in on a gig like this some 40 years down the line!
Also great to hear such a rousing display from the crowd for encores. And they are treated to two for their efforts. White Light/White Heat and Room.
The highlight of the set for me? Calling Your Name and Citizen (Dance Of Youth). Also had wished Factory had been complete because it was sounding well braw too.
The band were tight, but here and there I felt I detected that Jim wasn’t quite – “on” that night. But…it’s hard to tell without a back up of visuals, etc. The times he did seem “on” though, well…I don’t have to say any more, really. (Cue “squealy girl”. Lol)
I really enjoyed listening to it though. And will give it another play later on today. Put it this way – if TARDIS’s were real and I was allowed to go to one gig in the past and I was told it could only be THIS one – I’D BE THERE IN A HEARTBEAT! I’d bite your hand off – as Jim would say. Lol